On New Year’s Eve, 2016, landlord SL Green gave a potential retail tenant a chance to use the giant LED sign over its 4,629-square-foot storefront at 1515 Broadway in the heart of Times Square.

“We wanted to show them the power of the messaging,” said Ariel Schuster, vice chairman for RKF, which represented the landlord in the lease. “Millions of people were watching it.”

Soon afterwards, LINE FRIENDS, which began as characters similar to emojis used in LINE, a top mobile phone messenger application, signed a 10-year lease. The deal shows that even technology companies understand the value that a physical store can provide.

“Retail is still needed — the idea that everything is going online is wrong,” said Schuster.

You can hear more of Schuster’s perspective on New York City retail at Connect Media’s NY launch event, Connect NY Next Generation, which will be held Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at The Flatiron Room in New York City.